Game: Pick Two!

Thread: Pick Two - Session Report

gschloesser — 2007-12-20T02:18:32+00:00

Jim’s wife Cindy is not a big fan of games, but there is one game in particular that she adores: Pick 2. So, whenever we play at Jim’s home, Cindy will have the game pre-set on the table when we arrive. We are always happy to oblige her, as the game is quite popular in our group.

Kevin, Rhonda, Gail, Jim, Cindy and I played five fast and furious rounds. I startled myself by winning the first and third rounds, as Gail and Rhonda are usually the gurus at this game. Gail only won one round, but in every other round her scores were very low. She bested me by ten points in the final round, which was enough to claim the victory.

Alison arrived after we had completed three rounds, and Jim graciously surrendered his seat so she could play. Jim’s score up to that point was a very respectable 85 points. Alison proceeded to have the worst two rounds she has ever experienced, exploding Jim’s score to a whopping 400! This will be the source of amusement for us for months to come!

Finals: Gail 85, Greg 95, Rhonda 155, Kevin 215, Cindy 260, Jim / Alison 400

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Dan Manfredini — 2007-10-13T20:13:08+00:00

Pick Two Deluxe Box Back

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Dan Manfredini — 2007-10-13T20:12:42+00:00

Pick Two Deluxe Box Front

Thread: Re: combining rules to several similar word games

rossum — 2007-07-13T18:18:10+00:00

Also newcomer Bananagrams.

MDK

Thread: Pick Two - Session Report

gschloesser — 2007-02-20T11:50:01+00:00

Kevin & Rhonda had to leave a bit early, but Mark and Gail were still ready for another game. With a bit of time remaining, we settled on Pick Two, one of Gail’s favorite games. Mark’s wife Nikki really enjoyed the game at our East Tennessee Gamers’ Christmas party, and he was keen on trying it.

I shuddered as the game causes me to experience a high degree of anxiety and tension – higher than I tend to enjoy when playing games. I must admit that I find the game challenging and quite good, but highly tense and often frustrating. However, my wife enjoys it so much, that I will indulge her whenever she desires.

Mark began extremely well, winning the first two rounds. Gail kept close with a total of 30 points, but my second round was abysmal. I drew two each of “J”, “Q” and “V”. My score for the round was a shocking 165. I improved dramatically over the final three rounds, but by then was out of contention.

Gail went on a tear after the second round, winning the final three rounds. She trailed Mark by 15 points entering the final round, but passed him as he was left with 35 points.

Finals: Gail 40, Mark 60, Greg 340

Ratings: Mark 8, Gail 8, Greg 8

Thread: Pick Two - Session Report

gschloesser — 2006-10-12T17:57:26+00:00

Cindy became enamored with Pick 2 at Gulf Games in Louisville, so Jim warned us that she would be ready to play it when we arrived. Sure enough, the game was already set-up on the dining room table upon our arrival.

Pick 2 is a wonderful word building game, using plastic tiles depicting letters. As in Scrabble, each letter has a point value, with the more difficult to use letters carrying a greater value. These tiles are all mixed face-down, and each player draws an initial hand of eight tiles.

When ready, everyone begins forming words with their letters in a crossword puzzle format. When a player successfully places all of his tiles, he shouts “Pick Two!” and every player must grab two more tiles, adding it to their assortment. This frantic pace continues until all tiles from the center are depleted and one player has successfully placed all of his tiles.

Players then tally the value of the tiles they were unable to place, and the scores are recorded. Five rounds are played, and the player with the least number of points is victorious.

Pick Two is played at a frantic pace, as players scurry to form words and use all of their tiles. Often, shouts of “Pick Two!” come in a seemingly endless stream, and players find their stack of tiles growing at an alarming pace. Usually, players will eventually catch-up, as players will often get stuck, unable to place a tile or two until they are forced to draw fresh tiles. This frantic pace can be nerve-wracking, but it is an essential component of the game and a huge factor in the fun it generates.

As in Scrabble, word-smiths will have an advantage, but this is somewhat mitigated – but not completely – by the fast pace. Folks possessing the acumen to form words from jumbled letters will win most of the time. My wife is one of those folks, and she takes great glee in crushing me every time we play.

Several matches were played, but I only participated in the first one. I don’t have any details of the subsequent games, but I believe Gail proved triumphant in all of them.

Finals: Gail 15, Rhonda 20, Greg 135, Cindy 200, Alison 245, Kevin 275

Ratings: Rhonda 7.5, Gail 7.5, Greg 7.5, Alison 7, Kevin 7

Thread: Re:combining rules to several similar word games

rickkeuler — 2005-03-07T06:10:21+00:00

I'll add one more to that list - Syzygy. Here's the Geek link:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5870

It has QUITE a bit in common with Pick Two, the real difference being the scoring systems used.

Thread: Re:Scoring Question

mpetty31 — 2004-12-30T02:59:05+00:00

jmcmilla (#73540),
We talked about this too. It's especially seems backwards when you consider the rules for the included variant that scores for the letters you use.

I think an excellent scoring would weight all letters equally when you draw them, but scores for unused letters go up (counting more against you) the longer they are not used. Of course, this is not feasible in real-time. Once again this confirms my thought that real-time games, though fun, always have an annoying problem that would be fixed only by use of technology. (For example, the problem with all of these real-time word games is that players can purposely or accidentally get away with incorrect words and still call "pick two!", or whatever the appropriate phrase may be.)

I agree, though, this is a very fun game and one of the few games that I'll play repeatedly in the same evening.

Thread: Re:Scoring Question

bop517 — 2004-12-29T18:00:36+00:00

jmcmilla (#73540),

I just played it about a week or so ago, and we talked about it. I think that because it is more difficult to get a Q, X or Z into your puzzle it forces the person getting it to make sure they use it (and I would imagine, have to redo the crossword they already have going) and if they don't, the others get the points. I think the backwards scoring is to take away the luck of the draw.

Definately a fun game!

Thread: Scoring Question

jmcmilla — 2004-12-29T16:20:56+00:00

Is it just me, or is the scoring in Pick Two! too punishing to those unfortunate enough to draw several Q, X, or Z tiles?

Given that you are penalized for leftover tiles, why are the easy tiles like E or Wild only worth 5 points, while the toughies are penalized at up to 25 points? Does that seem backwards to anyone else?

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the game. The scoring just seems backward to me. Maybe I'm missing something?

Thread: combining rules to several similar word games

mpetty31 — 2004-12-23T19:52:00+00:00

There are three similar word games (as far as I know) that are real-time:
Pick Two!
Double Quick
Word-Sport

I've played them all and I like parts of each:
Pick Two! - The scoring is simple and provides the best tension IMO.
Double Quick - The timer moves things along nicely.
Word-Sport - I like the freedom to build multiple "crosswords" as necessary.

We combine all three when we play. We use Pick Two's letters and scoring (score points against players for unplayed letters). We use the timer from Double Quick, so there are 9 rounds of taking two tiles. Finally, we don't limit players to a single crossword. Each additional crossword counts 5 points against a player at the end though.

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edosan — 2004-09-17T20:12:05+00:00

Box contents

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Honey — 2004-05-22T20:37:41+00:00

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Honey — 2004-05-22T20:37:40+00:00